TECHNOLOGY
Valuable time is then gained in a payroll cycle, helping not only payroll but finance to better manage cashflow and external spend. Automated processes will get smarter. Not only will they alert the users to compliance errors, but they will start to suggest the best way to fix the problem based on how it’s been fixed in the past. And when artificial intelligence (AI) starts to learn those trends, it can be used to suggest the fix at the point in time of entry, rather than calculation or pre-calculation. This empowers payroll professionals to feel confident in their compliance and accuracy. KF: AI and automated analytics are invaluable for solving a variety of business problems. Faster and more reliable internet in the past decade means more interaction between software solutions is carried out using a secure API (application programming interface) instead of passing files around. Via new technologies we can actively analyse and report data to predict trends, highlight potential issues early and solve business problems at scale and speed. We see more processes available on mobile devices with assistance from bots. Generation Y expects real-time access to help and information, so will expect access to their payroll data to be the same. We will also see better-integrated enterprise resource planning systems, with payroll having shared access to wider data. RG: If I were to categorise what has happened over the last few years it would be: move to cloud-based solutions, improved automation, increased devolved input to non-payrollers, automation for payroll validation, improved information distribution (including HMRC), and combined analytics helping businesses get true value from their payroll information. So what does the future hold? The trend towards more devolved data input will continue. This will mean payroll Technology and the payroll profession Louise Gray ChMCIPPdip, shares insights Payroll is much more than accommodating a payday and as the role of cloud and the software platforms grows and develops, there is a definite swing away from an inert process to a more all-inclusive employee engagement platform, which also means everyone taking responsibility and ownership
earned, rather than through traditional pay cycles. To this end, there have been significant technological advancements to revolutionise archaic, batch-based processes that were once prevalent across pay systems. Ceridian’s Dayforce platform provides a continuous calculation of pay to disrupt the notion of a fixed pay period. On- demand payroll requests are processed as a regular payroll with the appropriate tax remittances for an accurate payment, not an approximation or percentage. Existing payroll processes and schedules are maintained, including the funding, timing, and close-out of pay. This means administrators don’t have to spend time reconciling at the end of the pay period. Dayforce Wallet is available in the US, with plans to bring it to additional markets, including Europe. FW: The increased industry focus on accessibility of payslips via self-service and salary advancement programmes have signposted a need for a better ‘employee payroll experience’, and I would see that accelerating over the coming years. Employers will look to differentiate by giving the millennial and zoomer generations access to their earned pay, on demand, instantaneously via digital wallets on their own smart devices. For this to happen, payroll, workforce management and payment solution technologies will need tighter connectivity (via APIs) to allow real-time payroll calculations and payments to become a reality for payroll professionals. n procedures and routines; this can easily extend to simple payroll enquiries, freeing up payroll professionals to perform more value- added tasks. What is my tax code? What is my pension? What are my benefits? These are just a few of the questions chatbots can handle. Embraced in the right way it would mean that payroll professionals are relieved of the more niggly aspects of their jobs and this is only to be encouraged.
professionals will need to stay up to date with the features offered by their solution provider as well as keeping an eye on emerging technologies and possible integrations such as rostering and time and attendance recording. The days of the payroll processing run are numbered; solution providers are moving to more continuous payroll processing. This will allow us to utilise the benefits this offers such as live payroll dashboards, early pay drawdown facilities and improved business analytics. BS: When we think about the future, we see the world of work becoming increasingly borderless, fluid, and on-demand. Payroll is central to this vision, as the proliferation of the gig and elastic workforce spurs employees to expect access to wages as they are of the data. Speed, user-friendliness, accessibility, flexibility and enhanced collaboration are just a few of the benefits of cloud-based payroll. ...when artificial intelligence (AI) starts to learn those trends, it can be used to suggest the fix at the point in time of entry, rather than calculation or pre-calculation. The increasing development of AI gives rise to the opportunity to use the likes of chatbots to respond to payroll questions. Chatbots are already heavily used in customer-facing organisations where they are programmed to deal with repetitive
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | May 2021 | Issue 70 40
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